Breakdown of Pöytä on sohvan ja ikkunan välissä.
olla
to be
ja
and
pöytä
table
sohva
sofa
ikkuna
window
välissä
between
Questions & Answers about Pöytä on sohvan ja ikkunan välissä.
Why are the words for sofa and window written as sohvan and ikkunan instead of sohva and ikkuna?
They are in the genitive case, which adds an -n to the end of the word. Postpositions like välissä (between) require the nouns they are attached to to be in this genitive form.
Wait, doesn't the -ssä ending in välissä mean 'in'?
Why does the word for between (välissä) come after the objects?
In English, 'between' is a preposition, so it goes before the nouns ('between the sofa and window'). In Finnish, välissä is a postposition, meaning it must come after the nouns it relates to (sohvan ja ikkunan välissä).
Why is pöytä in its basic form and not in the genitive case like the other nouns?
Pöytä (table) is the subject of the sentence, so it stays in the basic dictionary form. Only the words linked directly to the postposition välissä take the genitive ending.
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